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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hand · content · can · pound · file · degree · kid · mark

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. hand — help
  3. file — a document
  4. can — to be able to
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. content — the amount
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. can — a tin
  13. mark — a trace
  14. pound — a weight
  15. kid — to tease
  16. content — happy
  17. can — a tin
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. kid — child
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. mark — a grade

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com